Fight 'Til the End
by Annika the Merciful
Summary: AU. No magic. Emma is a terminal cancer patient under Killian's care. One-shot. Character death.


Hey all, so I had this rattling around in my brain and I couldn't sleep. It's sad, I'm not going to lie. I almost cried writing it. I hope you enjoy it though.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

The paramedics had been called to a small little café in downtown Boston late, one Saturday morning. It was rainy and the weather looked grim for the rest of the day. The paramedics rushed into the jammed café trying to reach the waitress that had fallen and had yet to regain consciousness after a few seconds. The patrons had startled, no one knew what to do exactly except for one lone patron, a young man. Tall and handsome he was dressed in scrubs and looking for a hot breakfast and some good coffee before he started the double shift ahead of him. When the waitress had fallen he had kept his eye on her, making sure she was alright. When she still hadn't even opened her eyes after another few moments he knew something was wrong.

Rushing over to her as he dialed 9-1-1 Killian prayed that it was nothing. But as he approached her unmoving body he saw the signs of what the cause was. She was thin, thinner than she ought to be. Her skin didn't look the right colour, it was too pale and that were bruises all over her skin having faded to the green-yellow but never quite disappearing. He hoped that he was wrong, hope that his suspicions and guy instincts were wrong, but he couldn't worry about that now. For now he had to attend to the girl. Throwing everything else aside he began checking her vitals as he waited. Once the paramedics arrived he identified himself as a nurse at a local hospital before updating them on her current vitals. Her heart and blood pressure were weak but her eyes had reacted to the light, she just wasn't waking up.

Holding her hand, Killian walked with the two men to the ambulance out front, entering with them before riding to the hospital praying that he was wrong.

* * *

Several days later Emma finally opened her eyes. The scratchy sheets and whiteness of the room and area around her made her panic. She didn't know where she was. She couldn't remember anything. Panic started flowing through her veins pumping and pushing as she began trying to remove the monitors that were attached to her skin. Before much damage could be done a gentle hand stopped her. Using a soothing voice Killian talked Emma down, reassuring her that she was safe.

"You're alright love." He paused keeping an eye on her. "That's it, just relax. Just relax." He kept his voice quiet and with every word his thick Irish accent bled through.

"Where…where am I?" Emma tried not to sound pleading but the emotions of waking up in a place she didn't know were making her panic.

"You're safe." Killian started moving to stroke her hand gently before she moved it away, tucking it into her other one. "You're in Boston General Hospital lass, you fainted two days ago while working and didn't wake up." He gave her the information slowly, letting each piece settle before giving her a new one.

"Who are you?" She asked looking at him. His face seemed familiar but she couldn't quite place it. Something told her she knew that he liked tea instead of coffee, but drank coffee to help with the long work days at the hospital. It was clicking into place, he was a customer at the restaurant she waitressed at. He always had eggs with toast and she loved his accent. The smooth rich sound coming from his sweet lips. She had sighed after the first time meeting him, he was a dream. He watched as the recognition slowly dawned on her, it was a few minutes again before she spoke. "You come to the restaurant I work at before and after your shifts." It was a 24 hour joint and close to the hospital.

"Yes, I do." He nodded slowly monitoring her heart rate on the screen by her bed. It was back down to a normal level, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"So you said I fainted? Why?" Emma was confused but just as Killian was about to answer the doctor walked in, stopping all questions.

"Good morning Miss. I'm Doctor Nolan. How are you feeling today?" He nodded to Killian in greeting before pulling out his stethoscope and checking her lungs and back writing something down before checking a few other things.

"Doctor, I'm confused. Why am I at the hospital?" Emma glanced between Killian and the Doctor and the worried glances on their faces.

"Miss, you are here because when we ran test to figure out why you hadn't woken up we found that you were ill." His face grew grim. "You have cancer and from what we can tell it's a rapid moving cancer." Killian had moved away from the bed to stand by the door trying to be out of the way but feeling as though he wasn't doing enough for the woman in the bed.

Emma's world crashed down at the doctor's words. Cancer. It couldn't be. Of course she hadn't been feeling well lately but that was just because she wasn't eating healthy. Living on greasy food would do that to anyone. Plus many of her customer's were sick, they had given her whatever they had. This wasn't cancer. It couldn't be cancer. Emma lost all rational thought, unable to keep the panic from over running her, Emma began to fight the monitors placed on her arms and chests once more, trying to get out of bed.

"You're lying! You're lying!" Emma tried to stand even as Doctor Nolan moved to push her back into the bed as the tears started. He watched the woman in front of him curl into a ball before breaking down in sobs muttering "It's a lie" over and over. Needing to go and check on other patients Doctor Nolan instructed Killian to stay with her until she was calmed down. He tried to approach her but every time he almost touched her it seemed to set her off again. He whispered words of encouragement and hope over her and she fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

The next several days passed as the doctors came in and out of her room, checking her vitals, taking blood samples, and finally giving her the full report on her health, asking if she had any family. Emma explained to them that she was an orphan on her own. She was sixteen, her last family had kicked her out. At the mention of her lack of family Child Protective Services had been called in making Emma explain all that had happened with her last family and what she had wanted to do now. She decided on treatment, the state would pay as she was technically a ward of the state, for all of the treatments. Emma nodded slowly, thankful that the woman sitting before her was kind, trying to help comfort her during this time.

Doctor Nolan walked into her room during one such visit stopping to kiss the social worker on the cheek before returning to his routine check-up on Emma. Emma watched as the two talked casually asking about their days and patients going on as if this were completely normal. It was then she noticed the matching wedding bands that both of them wore. That explained it. Emma didn't talk often, preferring to let Mrs. Nolan tell her what would be happening. Mrs. Nolan was kind, and often prompted Emma to talk of herself. She always stopped by every couple of days, just to make sure that she had a friendly face to chat with, even if it was only for a few minutes. An easy friendship came of the quick meetings, remind Emma that there _were_ people that cared about her and that family didn't always have to be people you were related to.

Over the next two months Mary Margaret, Doctor Nolan, and Killian were Emma's only companions. She fought against the disease that was waging war with her body every day, her strength prevailing on most. Killian would come and tell her stories when he could get away and often he found that on his days off he could come and read to her. He relaxed her with the written word and his Irish accent as he read story after story. On some days he would sing. He still remembered old ballads and tunes from Ireland and Emma loved the ones in Gaelic best. He would sing to her of ladies meeting their love, men winning wars, of love and life and death. His lilting voice settled the anxiety within her mind allowing her to relax and bask in the light music.

He hadn't meant to fall in love with her. As she hadn't meant to fall in love with him. He had tried to tell himself that it wouldn't end well, but he loved her smile and laugh. And even though she had been hurt he could see that every day she was letting him in a little bit more. He had proven himself trustworthy and Emma found that want to let him in, let him beyond the walls that she built and slowly she did just that. When she was feeling up to it they would take short strolls around the grounds of the hospital, often times ending with Killian having to grab a wheel chair as Emma would be unable to walk back to her room. They would joke and laugh and Emma couldn't remember a sound that made her happier.

* * *

The treatment had been working, though Emma now wore a scarf over of head instead of the beautiful blonde locks she had donned before. She would always remember the day it had started to fall out, she had been warned. It was a side effect of the treatment. But no one had prepared her for the emotional pain that she felt as she picked up a large clump of hair from her pillow. Killian had held her for an hour before she had stopped crying; wishing yet again that he could somehow be hers. They both wished that they could be together in another life that was less tragic than this one.

The treatment worked through most of the third month, and things were beginning to look optimistic but suddenly everything changed. Emma's body began rejecting the treatment turning on itself so quickly the doctors could scarcely find something to stop it.

They had told her she had months, maybe even a year, and now they were say weeks. Emma continued to fight, finding strength in Killian's words as each day her body drained her of more and more energy. Mary Margaret stopped by almost every day now, checking in on her and often times spending the afternoon sitting by her bedside when Killian couldn't. It killed Mary Margaret inside that Emma was alone, that she had no family, no one to stay with her all the time. That was when she decided she would. She would be her family. Her and Killian and David, it wasn't a big family, but it would give her the fighting power she needed to pull through.

The next two weeks Emma's health continued to decline and each day it was harder for Killian to look at her without pain. They were trying something more powerful, but it was making Emma sick more often. She could barely keep down toast and tea and most days she ate nothing more than a few crackers and sipped tea that Killian brewed for her. Emma spent more time asleep now than awake, her body trying to gain every ounce of energy that it could to fight the losing battle.

It was Emma's birthday, and Killian had managed to get Doctor Nolan, his wife, Liam, and a few other friends to come and join him for a small birthday party at the hospital. Emma managed to stay awake for most of it, sitting up in bed as she was too tired to walk to the lobby of the pediatrics oncology unit down the hallway. Everyone wore sad smiles as they watched Emma open each present with a warm smile and tears. No one had ever done something like this for her and the happiness that she felt was enough to ignore the pain for just a little while longer. Everyone watched as Killian doted on Emma, getting her a cup of water and encouraging her to get some rest as everyone understood that she was tired from all of the commotion. As they were all filing out of the room Killian kissed Emma on the forehead before wishing her a happy birthday once more and following the other's out into the hallway.

"Killy…" Liam began

"I know. I know." He sighed walking away. He was in love with Emma. She was a strong fighter and her spirit encouraged him to fight for the things he wanted in life. He had spent countless hours getting to know her and he couldn't help but love her. She didn't take crap from anyone and had learned a long time ago how to survive on her own. She was strong and brave and beautiful. He tried not to cry, he tried not to let his heart break as he reminded himself that she was growing weaker. The pain of losing her already was slowly destroying him, even when death would give her peace he knew that it would be like losing his mother all over again. The pain would leave a canyon sized hole in his heart that time would slowly mend. He sighed, trying not to think about Emma, and her laugh or her insistence that they read something with adventure and action over some stupid romance novel.

About a week late Killian some in to check on Emma in the late afternoon, her blinds had been shut and the only light was coming from a small bedside table. He went over to her side, sitting on bed before taking her hand gently in his. He tried not to notice how he could feel more bone than muscle now.

"Killian." Emma stirred at his presence turning her head to face him.

"Emma." He raised her hand to his lips, kissing her palm several times before replacing it to his lap as he continued to gently stroke the soft skin.

"I'm fading Killy." Her breathing was weak and the use of his brother's nick name made his give a hiccup of a laugh as he tried to hold back tears.

"You can fight Em, I know you can." He held onto her hand a little tighter trying to keep his emotions from spilling all over the place.

"Come here Killy." She removed her hand from his and patted the empty space between the bed railing and her own frail body. Carefully Killian moved to lie on his side, placing one arm under neck and the other drawing her against him and remaining on her waist. "Sing me a song Killy, a song of old, of love." She sounded like she was falling asleep but Killian knew that she was still awake, she hadn't fallen asleep she had just closed her eyes. His voice began low and tight as he moved through the lyrics of the song talking of a man that loved a woman so completely when she died he lost all hope. He had sung it before and Emma enjoyed the sound of his voice, even as it strained around the thick emotions. She hummed against his chest as it ended nuzzling his arm and taking a deep breath of him in. Her body was failing, the darkness pulling at her, she could feel it. Death was close, but it was better because he was here. Her Killian.

"Killian, I love you." Emma whispered breathlessly, the small amount of words taking all the air of her lungs with it.

"I love you too, Emma." Killian couldn't stop the tears as he felt her body fall limp against his and her breath still before the monitors alerted him to her absent heart rate. He held her too him, crying as Doctor Nolan walked (having stood at the door watching the scene between them) and shutting off the machine. Allowing for a few more minutes of privacy Doctor Nolan shut the door behind him before returning to his office where his wife waited.

* * *

It was summer again, though the warmth of the sun never really warmed him anymore. It had been eight months since Emma Swan had died. A vibrant life with so much promise doomed to a fate that ended her life too soon. Killian walked over to the simple gravestone. Doctor Nolan and Mary Margaret and Killian had pooled their money for a small funeral service. Not many people attended but it was nice. They laid her to rest next to his mother, with a smile tombstone that had an engraved swan above her name. Killian walked among the tombstones now, carrying two bouquets of flowers, roses for his mother and sunflowers for Emma. The two women he had loved the most. So different and yet so similar. Killian let a small smile grace his lips as he dusted off the tombstones, removing the invading weeds before gently placing the flowers in front of the tombstones. A shadow cast over him as Liam joined him, placing a comforting hand of support on his brother's shoulder.

Two beautiful lives, taken early by the same illness.

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Soo, that's why I shouldn't write late at night but I just could sleep without getting it out. Please review!

Annika


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